Lawan Loses Re-Election Bid As A’Court Affirms Machina As Yobe North APC Candidate

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday affirmed Bashir Machina as the standard flag bearer for the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2023 Yobe North Senatorial District election.

Naija News reports that the court order is not favourable to the embattled Senate President, Ahmad Lawan’s hope of seeking re-election in 2023.

The appellate court, in a judgement that was delivered by a three-man panel that was led by the President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, dismissed Lawan’s appeal as lacking in merit.

Lawan had approached the appellate court to challenge the judgement of a Federal High Court in Damaturu, which had on September 28, 2022, declared Machina as the bonafide flag-bearer of the APC for the impending senatorial election.

It will be recalled that while the Senate President picked the presidential form of the APC and participated in the primary election that was won by Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, on the other hand, Machina, vied and won his bid to take over as the candidate of the party for the senatorial contest.

Following his defeat at the presidential primary, Lawan, urged Machina to relinquish the senatorial ticket to him, a request the latter blatantly refused.

However, in the face of the controversy, the APC, submitted Lawan’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

Machine, however, was not satisfied with the decision and proceeded to court for redress.

He specifically asked the court to declare him as the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC for the senatorial election, a prayer that was accordingly granted.

Dissatisfied with the judgement, Lawan, who had publicly declared that he had accepted his situation in good faith, still proceeded to the appellate court, where he also lost on Monday.